Posts in "Laurence Vance"

By Matt Cockerill at 11:00PM

Mar 13, 2010

"Blessed be the Warmakers"?

If someone is a devout Christian, or merely a libertarian believer in natural rights and individual responsibility, he can't deny the logic of Laurence Vance's arguments on military service. Vance's belief that enlisting is morally wrong is uncomfortable, but the unadulterated truth rarely is easy to swallow. Still, it is my conviction that pure truth, bereft of disclaimers and sugar-coating, is the only way to change minds. This is especially important when talking to fellow young people considering military service. If members of YAL aren't going to speak the truth, no other group of young people will.

If you know of anyone who is thinking about enlisting, I'd recommend showing he or she this great and highly relevant interview of Vance by Lew Rockwell:

Posted in:

Add new comment

By Bonnie Kristian at 9:09PM

Dec 16, 2009

Do Antiwar Libertarians Hate the Military?

No.

What they do hate is the military's unnecessary, unconstitutional, and immoral acts of aggression. Laurence Vance explains:

First and foremost is the claim that antiwar libertarians hate the military. I don’t recall ever writing anywhere that I hated the military. And neither do I remember reading where some other antiwar libertarian said that he hated the military. I hate many things that the military does, and think I have good reasons for doing so, as I mention below. I certainly don’t hate any individual members of the military or any other organization. I can’t speak for all antiwar libertarians, but here are some things I hate about the military:
I hate the military fighting without a constitutional congressional declaration of war.
I hate the military garrisoning the planet with bases.
I hate the military targeting impressionable high school students (thanks to the NCLB act).
I hate military recruiters lying to potential recruits.
I hate the military fighting foreign wars.

Get Excited! We are Making a difference in the struggle towards peace and liberty.

Disgusting, dehumanizing euphemisms aside, Vance is correct in asserting that the American People's uncritical military-worship allows the US state to get away with all sorts of atrocities overseas.

Take, for example, this sort of thing. The US government's "abandoned," landmines continue to kill innocents in Vietnam even to this day. The murderer-in-chief is by necessity a numbers-guy and "pragmatist," that won't bother to think about such things in lieu of his "grand vision." So it's not surprising that he's refusing to sign an international treaty banning the use of landmines in general.

The only way the politicians--both foreign and domestic-- will stop the murder is public opposition, which will require a young, romantic, impassioned, and informed group of Americans to change the minds of their countrymen.

Laurence Vance on Military Doublespeak

Laurence Vance is always excellent on the subject of war, particularly when he writes about its relationship to Christianity. I saw him speak in June, and he did not disappoint. I was particularily impressed by his boldness in discussing the biblical conception of war and countering arguments for a more hawkish perspective presented by the audience -- even those wishing to have their military records validated.

Now, he's composed a pretty long list of doublespeak our government and society use in relation to the military. Here's a small sample:

Troop surge: escalation of a war we are losing.

Flying sorties: bombing civilians and their property.

Stationed overseas: helping to maintain the U.S. global empire of troops and bases.

Enhanced interrogation techniques: torture by the United States.

Extraordinary rendition: U.S. sanctioned torture by other countries.

Fighting terrorism: making terrorists.

Fighting our enemies: making more enemies.

Defending our freedoms: destroying our freedoms.

Read the rest of the list (there's a lot more) here.

Posted in:

Add new comment

By Matt Cockerill at 6:56AM

Oct 19, 2009

Onward Christian Killers?

While I'm hardly a believing Christian anymore, I nevertheless retain an appreciation for Biblical writings and Christ's general message. Thus, I have been highly appreciative of LRC columnist Laurence Vance's consistent adherence to the teachings of Holy Scripture and his resultant condemnation of the U.S. state's war machine, as well as individual participation therein.

Laurence Vance heroically decries pro-military attitudes as blatantly unchristian and contrary to Christ's message. His latest piece accurately compares blasphemous Christian worship of the military to the biblical account of the Jews worshipping Aaron's Golden Calf.... I recommend you check it out and forward it to all your pro-war Christian friends.

Posted in: